Scripture
In our study of The Gospel of Luke we come to one of the most significant events in the life of Jesus. The twelve apostles had been with Jesus now for more than two years, and they had witnessed his astonishing preaching and amazing miracles, exercising power over nature, demons, diseases, and even death itself (see Luke 8:22-56). But, as commentator Philip Ryken wrote, “Of all the things the apostles witnessed, none was more spectacular than their vision of the glorified Christ.”
Let’s read about Jesus’ transfiguration in Luke 9:28-36:
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. (Luke 9:28-36)
Introduction
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). The culmination of God’s creation was Adam and Eve. They were created to be in a relationship with God and to find their greatest joy in him. Initially, Adam and Eve apparently met with God in person. But after they sinned, “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8). The greatest blessing known to Adam and Eve was to be in the very presence of God. But because of their sin, God banished them from his presence.
However, throughout redemptive history God periodically revealed his presence. This became known as “the Shekinah glory, the visible presence of God in a luminous cloud.”
God’s people Israel first saw the Shekinah glory of God after their Exodus from Egypt and while they were on their way to the Promised Land. “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night” (Exodus 13:21). Commentator Kent Hughes says, “God palpably demonstrated his presence by a pillar-shaped cloud that radiated a fiery luminosity.”
Moses was the one whom God raised up to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses wanted to see the face of God. But God said, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). However, God added, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:21-23). When God passed by, the divine hand was lifted, and Moses saw the back of God. Then God told Moses to write down the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. Moses did this and remained on the mountain forty days without eating and drinking anything (Exodus 34:28). “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29). Moses had to wear a veil over his face as his face shone so brightly because, having been in the presence of God, he reflected the glory of God.
Then God had his people build a physical location for his Shekinah glory. The first “building” was the tabernacle, a tent that was constructed during the forty-year Exodus of the Israelites. When the tabernacle was built, we read these words in Exodus 40:34–35, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” God was present in the tabernacle and wherever the tabernacle was located, God was said to be present there.
Throughout the centuries, the tabernacle was transported from place to place. Finally, however, the time came for the temple to be built in Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple. During the dedication service for the temple, Solomon prayed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). Solomon knew that the universe could not contain God; he created it, after all. Nevertheless, he also knew that God would focus his glorious presence in the temple. And so we read this in 2 Chronicles 7:1–3: “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.’”
Sadly, this was the high point of Israel’s worship. Over the centuries, their worship of God deteriorated. About four centuries after Solomon’s dedication of the temple, seventy of Israel’s elders assembled in the temple – each in front of his own painted idol and each offering incense to it (cf. Ezekiel 8:7-16). The very walls of the temple had been painted with “every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 8:10).
The Shekinah glory was about to leave the temple!
Ezekiel’s vision in chapter 10 records that unforgettable departure. Four awesome cherubim (who are angels of God’s presence) gathered on the south side of the temple. Each had four faces and four wings, so they could move in any direction without turning. In the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something “like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne” (v. 1).
As the cherubim took their places on the south side of the temple, the Shekinah glory filled the inner court, then rose above the cherubim engulfing the sapphire throne (v. 3). Then the glory moved to the door of the temple’s threshold, filling everything with “the brightness of the glory of the Lord” (v. 4). The sound of the cherubim’s wings was “like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks” (v. 5). “Then,” as Ezekiel tells it, “the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them” (10:18–19, NIV). As Ezekiel’s eyes moved upward, he saw the four winged cherubim and above them the glory of the God of Israel. The glory was moving slowly away to the east and upward from the city where it had been for more than four centuries – and then it was gone (cf. 11:23)! The Shekinah glory had departed!
Over the next six centuries the temple was destroyed and rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt. And though godly men and women came and went, the Shekinah glory was not seen once!
More than six hundred years after the Shekinah glory had departed from the temple, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. During the next thirty years Jesus grew up in obscurity in Nazareth. Jesus, who is Immanuel (which means, God with us), began his public ministry at about thirty years of age.
As his ministry progressed there was a growing revelation of the identity of Jesus. Luke 8-9 shows Jesus as Lord over nature, demons, diseases, and even death, as Creator in the feeding of more than 5,000 people, and as the Christ of God in Peter’s great confession.
Peter identified Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One sent by God to seek and to save the lost. However, Jesus’ prediction that he must experience suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection filled the twelve disciples with confusion. Even more difficult for them was that in order to be a disciple of Jesus they would need to deny themselves, take up their crosses daily, and follow him all the way to the cross.
But it is in the transfiguration of Jesus that the disciples really learned about the glory of Jesus.
Lesson
The transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 9:28-36 teaches us about the glory of Jesus.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. What the Disciples Saw (9:28-32)
2. What the Disciple Said (9:33)
3. What the Disciples Heard (9:34-36)
I. What the Disciples Saw (9:28-32)
First, let’s notice what the disciples saw.
Luke said that it was about eight days after these sayings about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus that he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray (9:28). These three disciples witnessed the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:51-56) and were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-41).
Then Luke said that as Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white (9:29). Matthew says that “he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun” (Matthew 17:2). The Greek word for “transfigured” is transliterated as “metamorphosed.” Unlike Moses, who reflected the glory of God, Jesus was literally radiating the glory of God himself! For a brief moment, his face was literally transfigured, metamorphosed, by the intrinsic – not reflected – glory of God.
While Jesus was standing there, radiating with glory, behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah (9:30). Why these two men? Moses and Elijah both been shown God’s glory, both had unusual departures from this earth, and both were expected to return at the end of the age. Moses was the great lawgiver, and Elijah was the great prophet. Together they were a powerful summary of the entire Old Testament.
Luke said that they appeared in glory and spoke of Jesus’ departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (9:31). The Greek word for “departure” is “exodus.” Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about his impending suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection – the ultimate exodus. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. But Jesus was about to bring about a new and greater deliverance. He would deliver his people from their slavery to sin, and he would lead them to the ultimate Promised Land – heaven!
This sight must have been overwhelming. Moses had been dead for 1,400 years and Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a chariot 900 years earlier. And there they were talking with the transfigured Jesus Christ.
Astonishingly, Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep (9:32a). Actually, the text indicates that they were in fact asleep. Philip Ryken says, “If there was one thing the disciples excelled at – and this may have been the only thing – it was their extraordinary ability to slumber.” Fortunately, however, when they became fully awake they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who stood with him (9:32b).
II. What the Disciple Said (9:33)
Second, notice what the disciple said.
Kent Hughes said, “If there ever was a time for silence, this was it. But Peter was a man who could always find something to say when nothing could or should be said.” So, as the men (that is, Moses and Elijah) were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said (9:33).
One problem with Peter’s suggestion is that he unwittingly placed Moses and Elijah on the same level as Jesus. They are not of course on the same level; Jesus created Moses and Elijah.
Another problem was that Peter wanted to prolong the mountaintop experience. But, building a tent – a shrine – would have impeded God’s plan of salvation.
Interestingly, Jesus did not answer Peter.
But, that does not mean that Peter’s suggestion did not receive an answer.
III. What the Disciples Heard (9:34-36)
And third, look at what the disciples heard.
Remember that it has been more than 600 years that anyone anywhere had seen the Shekinah glory of God. Now, as Peter was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud (9:34). The Shekinah glory had returned! Is it any wonder that they were afraid?
Think of it! The Shekinah glory was the pillar of the Exodus (Exodus 13:21). The Shekinah glory was the cloud that passed by Moses in a cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:18-23). The Shekinah glory was the cloud that covered the newly furnished tabernacle and so filled it that Moses could not enter it (Exodus 40:35). The Shekinah glory filled Solomon’s temple on dedication day so that the priests could not enter it (2 Chronicles 7:1). And the Shekinah glory was the same glory that Ezekiel saw rise from between the cherubim and depart from the temple because of Israel’s apostasy (Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-25).
Peter then received the answer to his suggestion. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (9:35). This was the voice of God the Father, who said almost the same thing at Jesus’ baptism (3:22). At Jesus’ baptism, the Father spoke to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” But here, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father spoke to the disciples.
The Father’s command is emphatic: “Listen to him!” When the Father speaks, people should pay attention to what he says. Here, in the space of just a few words, God the Father spoke volumes of sacred truth about the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Promised One sent to seek and to save the lost.
How should we listen to Jesus? Philip Ryken says:
We are called to listen to what Jesus says here in Luke 9 about his death and resurrection, about our own self-denial and cross bearing, and about following him to the very death.
Beyond that, we are called to listen to everything Jesus says. What is Jesus saying to you right now that demands your attention? Listen to his promise that he will forgive your sins. Listen to his assurance that he will receive you into the family of God. Listen to the comfort that he will never abandon you, that he will be with you through all of life’s troubles. Listen to the invitation of rest for your soul. Listen to the imperative to love God more than anything else, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Listen to the reminder that his power is made perfect in your weakness. Listen to the exhortation to leave bitterness behind and find your joy in him. Listen to his call to costly discipleship. Listen to the rebuke that you need to turn away from some particular sin. What Jesus is saying, God commands that we listen.
Luke notes that when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. Moses and Elijah were gone. And disciples kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen (9:36).
Conclusion
Therefore, having analyzed the incident of the transfiguration of Jesus as set forth in Luke 9:28-36, we should listen to Jesus and look to him for our salvation.
Some people say that they would listen to Jesus if only he would speak to them in an audible voice. If only they could hear the voice of God, like Peter and James and John. If only they could see what those men saw. Then they would listen.
Interestingly, Peter wrote about his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. He said in 2 Peter 1:16-18, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.” This is all very well for Peter, but what about us? Of course we believe his word that these things really happened, but how does that help us if we never have the same mountaintop experience?
Peter goes on to make this stunning comment in verse 19, “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” According to Peter, what the Scripture says about Jesus is even more certain than what he saw and heard on the mountain! Why is that? The reason is that we have the complete revelation about Jesus and salvation and heaven and hell and glory given to us in the Word of God.
Therefore, listen to Jesus! Believe that he is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One sent by God to seek and to save the lost. Amen.
